Phillies stymied by Harvey, Mets

Associated Press
New York starting pitcher Matt Harvey, right, gets congratulated after he scored on an Eric Young double in the fifth inning Sunday.
returns to the dugout after scoring from second on a double by Eric Young during the fifth inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sunday, June 23, 2013, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Tom Mihalek)

This is your manager speaking. I know I have been around a while, and those of you who have been around me for much of that time might be used to the sound of my voice. However, after Sunday’s 8-0 loss to the Mets, I would like you to make sure you’re paying attention to the words coming out of my mouth and not just the twang that’s along for the ride.

As for those of you who haven’t been around long, you ought to be paying close attention anyway, because you haven’t exactly wowed me with your performance in this first half.

I can’t cover up the sloppy play and unforced mistakes any longer when I face the media after the game. I’ve been a player-friendly manager for a long time who only brings out the dunce cap when absolutely necessary. But you guys are making me turn to it so often this season that I might forget about having you wear it on your heads and instead have you sit on it. After all, that’s where your brain seems to be much of the time.

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This is what I told the writers after this game, when we lost by five or more runs for the 16th dang time this season: “When I see us play today, and we start to get sloppy at the end, I see us and I think doubt creeps into my mind. I heard somebody say other day, ‘We’ve got to grind it out.’ That’s what you’ve got to do.

“You’ve got to love it, want it. It gets down to how much you want it. Attitude can take you a long ways if you play the game and want to excel at it.”

That’s something you didn’t show me Sunday.

I can’t believe I had to trot out there and argue with second-base umpire D.J. Reyburn about a call he made to start the fifth inning – not because he probably made the wrong ruling when Ben Revere made a grab on that Juan Lagares routine fly ball where the ball fell out as he tried to make a quick exchange from his glove to his throwing hand. I’m irritated because if Revere would have been a little less of a lollygagger when it came to making the exchange, the umpire wouldn’t have been involved at all on the call.

I know what Ben told reporters: “I caught the ball. The umpire was standing right there, looking right at me … It was a terrible call … It sucks that’s how the game turned around.”

I know he also said he told the umpire, “You saw where I had the ball in my glove for a good three or four seconds.” Well, that ain’t true. You didn’t have it that long. You got sloppy and you let someone else’s ability for human error come into play. You can’t do that. We can’t afford that. We have a $144 million pitcher who is 2-11. We had more relievers go on the disabled list than wins on this homestand. We still haven’t score double-digit runs in a game.

We don’t have the luxury to be imperfect at routine things – not if you want to play in October, not if you want to see many of the veterans on this team still around come August.

I know some of these things might not have mattered Sunday. Matt Harvey is an amazing young pitcher. He makes me envious, watching him pound the strike zone with that high-90 mph fastball and a hard slider that he uses to slice the outside corner against hitters from both sides. Hell, the best shot we had was when that 20-minute rain delay scared the Mets out of sending him back out there for the seventh inning – not that we’ve been hitting enough to get out of a 6-0 hole against any bullpen, especially when ours has to pitch after John Lannan comes unraveled following Revere’s botched catch.

I told those reporters I have to gather you around, “usually about 3-4 times a year. I have to call them into question. I have meetings like nobody’s business.”

I told them that is the way it is nowadays, that the modern player can’t be trusted to keep his mental edge the whole season without some pokin’ and proddin’. There are exceptions. This isn’t about all of you.

“I think when I see (Kevin) Frandsen do like he did (Saturday) – hit the ball out of the yard … I believe we have some guys like that who want to go get it,” I told the reporters. “How many of those guys (we have), I don’t know … I know we have a few. How many, I don’t know. But we’ve got a lot of new guys. You’ve got to remember that.

“We’ve got to play better baseball. We’ve got to have more get-up and go about it, play good defense and hit and pitch …There’s no shortcut to success.”

I appreciate what Michael Young said in response, telling reporters, “I love that. That’s the way it should be. You have to put your best foot forward when the team is scuffling a little bit. Our best opportunity to get back in the thick of this race is right now. You can’t sit there and wait until after the All-Star break. You have to start showing some signs right now, start showing some momentum. Obviously we are almost smack in the middle of the season, so now’s the time to step on the gas a little.”

The fact is, we are hitting the road for 10 games, and if we don’t pick it up and aren’t hanging around .500 by the time we wrap up in Pittsburgh on July 4, there ain’t going to be much persuading the general manager that this team has the innards to make a run.

I ain’t one who likes spending the last two months of the season doing nothin’ but crossing days off my calendar. Hope you ain’t, either.